


The Red Princess

by FlowerofAlganon23



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Dany embraces her mother's legacy, Do not read if you are sensible, Drogo is portrayed as what he was: a rapist, F/M, Fuck the Dothraki, Rhaella lived longer, Rhaella's influence is speaking, book canon, dany centric, he gets what he deserves, mentions of rape and abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerofAlganon23/pseuds/FlowerofAlganon23
Summary: I read the books over the holidays because I forgot a lot about them or better said I read my favourite POVs. One is Daenerys and I have to say even after the third or is it forth read? I forgot...I still think her relationship with Drogo makes no fucking sense whatsoever.Call it Stockholm syndrome if you like, but I think it has more to do with the writer not knowing what he wanted to do with her. Did he want to portray them as a romance or as outright rape? Because I don't get it.Why does Dany love him? Yes, I get he killed Viserys and gave her some self-worth, but then I always had the feeling that Dany had plenty of that even before she met Drogo. She was constantly being sarcastic about Viserys stupid plans and spoke out against him despite her fear.Especially, if you compare her relationship with Drogo with Daario it makes no fucking sense. She seems to be attracted to his manliness, but at the same time, she is disgusted by Daario suggestions of butchery.  She knows that her relationship with him is doomed in the long run.So how could such a compassionate girl love a man who commands an army of rapists and murderers?For me, George changes her character as he sees fit and contradicted himself with her several times.I mean she conquers three cities with wit and then she suddenly doesn't even want to fight the slavers who are trying to destroy her work?I don't really get Daenerys character or her arc at all in the books at times, which is more the writer's fault than the character.Now, that said, I have not watched the show (Not really since season 2) and stopped completely at season 5, but I know the major plot points of the ending and I am baffled by them?How can someone turn a rape-victim and a person who frees slaves into a madwoman?Either this bullshit came from the writers or George has lost his mojo...Or maybe I was just ignorant all along to see his failures?Some of the stuff he wrote was in hindsight pretty problematic...I still love his characters and I hold no grudge against him as a person, but this re-read prompted the idea of writing this one-shot, that might not be a one-shot forever. Who knows...I know people are touchy about rape, but I think it is fine to write about it, as long as it is not framed as something good and that is certainly not the case here.Maybe my writing also comes off as hateful towards the Dothraki, but then I openly admit, they are my least favourite part of the universe. They are all the same, have no culture and their whole arc is just terrible if you follow the show plot points...They basically just turn into a whole horde of barbarians who are hated by everyone?Is that really the whole point of Dany uniting them? Like maybe have them change and become better people? Like give them a purpose besides rape or killing...Apparently, I am wrong on this account.As for Dany's different worldviews in this story: Rhaella lived until Dany was ten years old. She loved her and cared for her and instilled some self-worth into her. Rhaella is always portrayed as a victim, but the fact that she survived all this stuff makes me think she was a strong-willed person to even survive that...I don't think I would have been that strong...Not that anyone who is weak is lesser or anything. I just thought that she would have a huge influence on Dany if she lived, though I personally do not think that Viserys would have turned out alright.Not due to his genetics, though. I never saw him as mad, but as a child that was groomed by an abuser to become another abuser.Sadly, this stuff happens at times and the fact that he was a beggar didn't help...
Relationships: Daenerys Targaryen & Rhaella Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen & Viserys Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen/Khal Drogo (not romantic at all)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	The Red Princess

"And then the handsome knight named the young Princess Queen of Love and Beauty,“ her mother’s soothing voice told her while her fingers played with Dany’s silver locks.

In her mother’s arms, she had always felt safe, but Viserys‘ erratic temper was becoming worse by every passing day. Only yesterday, he had snapped at Ser William, calling him a useless old fool.

Her Lady Mother had cursed him, but he had shown her nothing but disgust.

"And did the Princess marry the knight?“ Dany asked her mother, searching for her dark purple eyes for an answer.

Yet, she found there naught but sadness.

"Sadly not,“ her mother replied and leaned down to kiss her brow. "Instead she was wed to a vicious dragon called Aerys. He was both her brother and her tormentor.“

Dany shuddered at the mention of that name. She was only nine name-days old, but she knew that had also been her Lord Father’s name.

The man Viserys loved and her Lady Mother hated, though she had never told her what he had done to her.

"Are you telling her lies again, Lady Mother?“ Viserys‘ sneering voice made them turn their heads.

He looked haughtier than usual, dark cringes underlying his eyes. He spent more time with whores and whine than to attend to his lesson with Ser William.

"I am speaking the truth,“ her Lady Mother replied in a sad and resigned tone. She always spoke like that with her brother. "Your father was a monster who brought me naught but pain. At times, I wish I had cut his throat myself.“

She had risen from the canopy as she had said this, searching for her brother’s gaze.

For the first time in years, she saw her brother speechless. His face was pale as ash and his dark violet eyes were burning with rage.

Then, he slapped her hard, and soon enough Viserys was atop their mother, hitting and kicking her as she screamed words of protest.

Dany tried to pull him away, but he kicked her aside and it were only Ser William’s men that were strong enough to pull him off her.

Dany was brought away as well. She spent the rest of the evening in her chamber until she was finally allowed to see her Lady Mother.

Her face was a motley of red-and-blue bruises and for the first time in her life, Dany found that her Lady Mother was old.

It was not the grey hair or the wrinkles around her eyes and nose, but her wet eyes and the way she sat in her chair made her appear old.

"Come here, my star,“ she whispered and Dany did as was asked of her. „I am well.“

„Truly?“ Dany asked in confusion and looked at her bruises in discomfort. "You are all blue. Are you angry with Viserys?“

Her mother gritted her teeth and pulled her closer, holding unto her shoulder tightly.

"Viserys is your father’s son,“ she replied and coughed. "I once thought he was the future of House Targaryen, but he is not.“

Fear filled her heart when she heard this. "Don’t say such things, mother. You will…,“ she began, but her mother pulled her closer and forced her to look at her once more.

"Your brother is no dragon and neither was your father. My father King Jaehaerys, sickly as he was, was more of a dragon. My son Rhaegar might have proved himself a dragon had he lived to be a King, but neither your father nor Viserys are worthy of the throne,“ her mother said in a trembling voice. „I am just a woman, but there is one thing that I have learned. A man who hurts me is not worthy of my love nor of a crown. For how can such a man claim to protect those beneath him?“

A moment of silence followed, as her mother’s tears continued to flow and another bout of coughing overwhelmed her.

"Do you understand what I am trying to understand?“ her Lady Mother asked her more softly and kissed her cheek.

Dany nodded her head, though she felt that she had not understood anything her Lady Mother had tried to say.

„I think I understand, Lady Mother.“

…

Three moons later, both her Lady Mother and Ser William perished from the plague. A week later, the servants stole nearly all their belongings and they were forced to flee from headhunters that might sell them to the usurper. With only a bag of jewels, they bought passage to Tyrosh and then to Myr.

Dany wanted to weep, but she knew Viserys would have made her pay for such a display for weakness. Instead, she watched her brother grow more and more desperate every passing day.

Nearly a year later, they found themselves in Volantis, where her brother drank and whored with men of the Golden Company. He promised them lands and a return from their long exile, but instead of helping them they took their mother’s crown as early payment and left them begging on the streets.

Hungry and cold moons followed. At times, they found someone to house them for a few weeks, but word was ever-fast traveling and once the usurper’s swords had nearly reached them.

It was pure luck, that they escaped to Lys, where they were found by a magister called Illyrio. He was a cheesemonger, who sold spices and other gems throughout the other Free Cities, but most importantly, he was a very rich man who filled her brother’s mind with flattery and false promises.

It was also the first time in nearly two years that Dany had a proper bath and meal. The magister’s mansion was nearly as beautiful as the House with the Red Door, but Dany had learned from an early age that nothing came for free.

It was two weeks after her thirteenth name day, that her brother called her into the magister’s solar and waved a fancy gown in front of her nose.

"Isn’t it beautiful?“ he asked her in an unusually jovial tone. "Touch it!“

Dany touched the garment. It was the smoothest of silk and dyed in a beautiful velvet clour. "Is that another gift?“

"For your wedding,“ the magister informed her with one of his rotten smiles.

Dany backed away and eyed the dress with mistrust.“Who?“

"Khal Drogo,“ her brother informed her and grabbed her shoulder to pull her closer. "A Dothraki horselord who calls more than fifteen thousand Dothraki screamers his own. His army will bring us home.“

Dany shuddered and tried to free herself from Viserys‘ strong grip. She had heard tales about the Dothraki. They were savages who pillaged and killed wherever they went. How could her brother hope to win back the hearts of the Westerosi by unleashing a horde of Dothraki upon the Seven Kingdoms?

"I don’t want to,“ she whispered, her voice lacking in strength. She could barely look at Viserys. She was afraid to wake the dragon. "I am a Princess and you promised…,“ she began, but Viserys‘ slap came faster than the words could spill from her lips.

She felt the taste of iron inside her mouth, as she cradled her burning cheek.

She had no tears left, only herself.

"Now go back to your chamber,“ Viserys commanded. "I shall send the girls to you and have bathed and dressed. The Khal is going to see you on the morrow.“

Dany had said nothing and had returned to her chamber. The girls came not long after, bathing and dressing her in the many gowns Magister Illyrio had given her for her name day. The dress Viserys had chosen come at last and a golden collar, which made her feel more like a cow than a young girl.

"She looks so very lovely,“ The Magister cooed softly as he eyed her across the table. Dany had never hated a man more than him. "The Khal will be delighted.“

Viserys nodded his head as he brushed his greasy fingers over his mouth. He had just devoured a honeyed chicken. "Lovely indeed, but very young. Can she even birth children at that age? I am not sure.“

"She bled,“ Magister Illyrio replied and eyed her as if she was nothing more than a toy with strings attached to her arms and legs. "That should be enough.“

Dany ate nothing that night, but her brother drank aplenty, enjoying himself with Illyrio’s girls.

All the while Dany had paced up and down her chamber. Outside were guards, but whenever she opened the shutters of her window, she could see out to the street. All she would have to do is jump and run. That was if she didn't break her legs.

Still, it was better than to do Viserys‘ bidding.

He was her brother, but her Lady Mother had been right. He was not worthy to have the crown and Dany deserved better than a Dothraki horselord. No, the people in her home, suffering under the usurper’s tyranny, deserved better than a horde of pillaging horselords.

Dany waited until the mansion had grown silent and the moon stood high upon the starry sky.

Dany had changed into a darker dress, had put on her boots, and a dark cloak to hide her hair and face. She also kept the handful of coins she had hidden away from Viserys over the last moons before their residence in Pentos.

It was enough to buy herself a passage away from Pentos…

Yet, when she laid eyes on the dark abyss below her window, she stopped for a moment.

 _If I look back I am lost_ , she whispered and exhaled deeply. _If I look back I am lost._

Then, she jumped and knew only darkness and pain.

…

She woke days later, her arm and leg bandaged. She felt as if her body had been cracked open with a hammer, but the pain in her limps was much less terrifying than the hatred in Viserys‘ eyes.

"You are an ungrateful little rat,“ he spat at her. "And the Magister had to pay much coin to see your wounds mended. The Khal was displeased as well, but luckily the Magister could convince him to take you anyway.“

"Please Viserys,“ she begged with him then and pulled on his arm. „Please…I don’t want to marry him.“

"You will not run away again,“ he insisted coldly and yanked hard on her hair, forcing her to look at him. "Or you will know the wrath of the dragon.“

And unlike Viserys‘ other promises, this one was not empty as the many that came before.

It was pouring from the sky when the Khal came to claim her. There was no wedding feast, for he was impatient to attend to his business, but Dany received aplenty of gifts she couldn’t care for.

Only the dragon eggs had warmed her heart, though she had barely been able to lift them with her bandaged arm.

Her husband wasn’t any gentler. He mounted her every night as if she was nothing more than one of his mares. At first, she whimpered, but now she felt only hatred for him.

Sometimes, when she was sleeping beside her dragon eggs, she dreamed of burning him alive. Him and Viserys and the rotten Magister, who had lied to them again, for even moons after their departure from Pentos did he make no attempt to sail for Westeros.

And while Dany grew more desperate to escape her suffering Viserys became angrier.

"He promised me an army,“ he told her one night as they were breaking their fast. Their handmaids, two Dothraki girls called Irri and Jhiqui had made it for them, but Dany felt no need for food. For days, she had been vomiting out her fast and her breasts had grown tender and big with milk. "Perhaps your mongrel of a babe will convince him otherwise.“

"Your brother is a hateful person,“ Doreah said later, as she slept beneath Dany’s feet. She was a pleasure girl from Lys, golden-haired and blue-eyed and always smiling. "But the Khal has already softened towards you now that you carry his son. I could teach you to please him…,“ she explained, but Dany had cut her off by turning her back to the girl.

"Pleasing the Khal would mean to please my brother,“ Dany replied weakly and touched her ever-growing belly. It was true what Doreah had said, but Dany felt no love for the babe growing inside her. One night, after Drogo had hurt her again, she had picked up the dagger she had been gifted upon her wedding day and had thought of cutting this babe out of her. "Leave me.“

After Dany had left, she closed her eyes and continued to dream of dragons.

…

Dany’s belly had grown fat and round when they arrived at Vaes Dothrak, a ruin filled with stinking horses and slaves. Even from her dwelling place, she could hear Irri’s and Jhiqui’s whimpers whenever her bloodriders mounted them.

Viserys had done so as well with great pleasure, but three days before their arrival in Vaes Dothrak, he had dared to lay a hand on her and the babe and had lost his hand to Ser Jorah’s sword.

Dany had felt the urge to hear more of his pleadings, but then she had remembered that her mother had once loved Viserys and she had told her husband to send him back to the Magister.

Ever since Dany had heard nothing of her brother and Khal Drogo had made no attempt to keep his promise.

"What of the promise the Khal gave to my brother?“ she asked Ser Jorah one night. He was a grim man that had lived in exile ever since Eddard Stark, one of the usurper dogs, had tried to kill him for some minor crime he hadn’t wanted to reveal to her. Dany couldn’t say whether she trusted him, especially when she found him watching her with his greedy eyes. He was neither to her taste nor the right kind of match for her. "Will he keep it?“

Ser Jorah lowered his head in reverence and picked up her hand to lift it to his lips.

Dany felt the urge to pull it away, but he was one of her few allies in this rotten place.

"I am sure he will once his son is born,“ Ser Jorah replied. "Have trust.“

It was sounded like another empty promise. Only after she had devoured a bloody heart and some wine seller had tried to take his life, Khal Drogo had made good on his promise.

 _He would burn the Seven Kingdoms_ , he had said. _And rape every single maid he could find._

It was not the way Dany had wanted to go home and thus she was glad when Drogo set his eyes to the east, toward Qohor…

…

A bleeding star was gracing the sky when her husband defeated one of his fiercest enemies and only a handful of days later he sacked villages belonging to the Lhazareen.

Dany had watched how they had burned the fields, mounted women, and murdered innocent babes at their mother’s breast.

The thought that her son would follow into his father’s footsteps disgusted her even more.

In the third village, she couldn’t take it anymore. It been the desperate whimpers of a young girl that had roused her out of her stupor and she had raised her voice at the bloodriders that had mounted the girl three times in a row.

When the fourth had wanted to have a go, the girl had been sobbing desperately, her legs a river of blood.

The bloodriders had protested against her actions, but when she had climbed from her horse and had threatened to cut herself they had given in.

One of the bloodriders, a vicious man named Mago, had complained to her husband that she had claimed their spoils of war, but her husband had paid him no head.

He had been too pleased with himself that he had defeated his fiercest enemy. The fact, that the birth of her son was drawing-ever closer seemed to lift his mood even more, though he had not stopped coming to her bed, despite the discomfort it brought her.

Dany herself had felt a certain hint of satisfaction at her actions, though whenever she laid eyes upon the girl she had saved she realized that she had accomplished nothing of importance.

The girl was a shadow of herself and a day later they found her dead. She had used a rope to strangle herself to death, her face blue and red when she was burned upon a pyre.

The bloodriders had frowned upon her actions, claiming that a slave deserved only to be given to the crows, but Dany had accomplished it with Ser Jorah’s help.

"You must be careful, Khaleesi,“ the old knight told her after they had watched the pyre turn to ash. "The Khal will not like it when you trifle with their traditions.“

"Their traditions are not mine,“ Dany replied sharply. "And stop calling me Khaleesi. I am a Princess of House Targaryen and I wish to be addressed as such.“

Ser Jorah had stopped her half-way, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"You are the Khal’s wife?“

"I am no one’s belonging,“ she replied and pushed his hand away. That night she dreamed she was a dragon with black wings, soaring over the sky and turning her enemies to ashes.

When she woke, she heard the whimpers of a woman. It was a painful and croaking sound that led Dany towards the victim and her captor.

Again, she told the bloodriders to let go of her and told them that she would claim her as well, a plump woman with disheveled dark hair.

Dany could tell that she was Lhazareen, but by the hatred burning in her eyes, one could mistake her easily for a viper.

"Who are you?“ she asked her while Irri and Jhiqui were tending to her wounds. "Are you feeling better?“

"Does it matter who I am?“ the woman asked and eyed Dany with great curiosity. "I know who you are. Daenerys Targaryen, a Khaleesi of the Dothraki. I also heard you carry the Stallion that mounts the world.“

Dany felt only disgust at this title. It was what Drogo wanted her son to be. A murderer, not a Prince. To think of him as not as Drogo's seed was the only way she could find an ounce of love for this child.

"This child is my son alone,“ Dany replied. "Now tell me your name?“

"Mirri Maz Dur,“ she replied with a strange smile playing upon her lips. "A godswife of the Lhazareen. I can tell that you love your child as much as you despise your husband.“

Dany felt as if this wise woman had seen right into her heart.

It felt as if she had found a friend.“

"You are right,“ she whispered in a low voice. "I want him dead. I want him to suffer for the pain he brought me. I want to leave…I want freedom for myself and my child.“

Miri laughed and put a piece of roasted horse meat into her mouth. She chewed slowly as she continued to observe Dany.

She swallowed and smiled.

"I also want freedom…for my girls and myself.“

"Your girls?“ Dany asked and felt the kick of her babe strong and healthy inside her. "Who were they? Your daughters?“

"No,“ Miri replied and shook her head. Her face softened. „The girls that served as godswives to the Great Shepard. The girl you claimed was one of them.“

Dany clutched her chest and felt tears burning in her eyes.

"I am sorry for what happened to her.“

„Then, let us make a bargain. I can give you a poison that will appear like a common sickness of the bowls and in return, you will help me and my girls to get away.“

It was an easy promise she made that night. A promise that led her away from her hated husband and his horde of monsters.

Drogo succumbed to Miri’s poison as quickly as she had promised. On the first day, he could barely eat, on the second day the fevers started to assault his body, and on the third day his stool had become soiled with blood.

The night of Drogo’s death, Dany had made good on her promise to Mirri and had freed her girls. Ser Jorah had cut their chains and together they had fled the camp that had fallen into chaos the moment the Khal had been befallen by his sickness.

Only her three bloodriders remained to her, but it had taken much convincing to have them follow her command.

 _They will kill the Khal’s son_ , she had told them. _We must flee through the red waste._

They had posted, of course, but Dany had reminded them of their loyalty and thus they had left before the first tree had been felled to build the Khal’s pyre.

Dany barely felt her silver beyond her, as they raced through the barren landscape that was the red waste. No water or trees could be found here, only a never-ending sea of red and grey stone.

The heat was almost unbearable, sweat rolling down her cheeks even at night, but for the first time since her mother’s death, she was free.

"The comet will show us the way,“ Miri told her a week after their flight. "To Qarth.“

"Qarth?“ Dany asked and brushed the sweat from her cheek. Her time was almost near, but she wished she had a better place to birth her babe. "Have you been there before?“

"It is a city full of warlocks,“ Mirri explained and eyed her belly. "But still a better place to birth a babe than the Red Waste. We ought to stay in the ruins that lie not far from here. There we will find water and food.“

"And die by the new Khal’s swords,“ Ser Jorah protested. "They will find and kill us, witch.“

"They might,“ Miri replied. „But if we don’t get some water it will be the red waste that claims our life, old knight.“

Jorah had huffed and left her then.

"He is afraid,“ Dany explained to the godswife, but she only shrugged her shoulders and left her in company of her ladies. „Like we all.“

…

Two days later, Ser Jorah’s fears came true. Mago and a two Dothraki screamers had found them.

They came with swords and threats of death for her child, but Ser Jorah and her bloodriders killed them in a bloody struggle.

Ser Jorah took a wound to his shoulder and one of her bloodriders perished from the bloodloss.

And Dany’s waters broke amidst the heat of battle. Crying and wrecked by pain in her lower stomach, her ladies had carried her away.

By the time, Miri could attend to her, she was half-delirious, and stars in all kinds of colors started to dance before her eyes.

She saw her mother’s lovely smile, her brother Rhaegar dying against the warhammer of the usurper, Viserys‘ ugly grimace, Drogo’s rotten corpse and so many other faces, all of them blurring together and becoming one.

 _Wake the dragon_ , had whispered to her. _Wake the dragon._

When she woke, her head was throbbing with terrible pain. Her mouth felt dry and her belly felt empty and barren.

She clutched at it and looked around, only to find Irri smiling down at her. Jhiqui was also there, but Doreah was missing. She had perished as well.

"Where is my child?“ she asked, but it was Ser Jorah who gave her the answer she was seeking.

He must have overheard their conversation from outside the tent.

"The child never lived,“ he told her with a grim expression. "It was a black and winged creature. I have never seen anything like.“

Dany didn’t know whether she wanted to weep or to shout at the knight. Her child could be no monster, but then his father had been one as well.

Perhaps the gods could not allow such a creature to exist.

It was only a few hours after her waking, that Jorah led her out of the tent to find Mago still alive.

He was gagged and bound. His body was glistening with heat and a painful cut showed on his leg.

He was dying, but Dany felt he deserved much more than that.

Viserys had been a fool, but he had been right about one thing.

Fire had always been the champion of House Targaryen and a man like the one in front of her deserved such a death.

"We must build a pyre for my son and my brave bloodrider,“ she said in an iron tone. "And Mago shall face punishment for his deeds.“

No one objected to her command, the least of all Miri, who had not spoken much to Dany since her waking.

Dany believed she felt guilty about the loss of the babe or perhaps she was just exhausted.

Dany watched as they build the pyre and when all was said and done, Ser Jorah handed her the burning torch and looked upon the dragon eggs she placed there.

It was only right that she would light her son’s funeral pyre and saw to Mago’s punishment, but there was something more driving her actions.

For when she saw the flames devouring the wood and heard Mago’s screams the world around her grew distant and foreign.

Suddenly, she knew what she had to do and filled her with so much vigor that she stepped right into the embrace of the flames, as if her mother had returned from the gave to greet her once more.

Yet, the fire didn’t kill her. It swallowed her whole, burning away her hair, clothing, and the torch in her hand, but her heart was still there.

Beating fast and full of vigor. The voices inside her head grew louder and louder, repeating the same words.

_Wake the dragon. Wake the dragon. Wake the dragon._

It was the first loud crack that banished the voices and left nothing but heat and colors. The second one followed shortly after and then the third one, much louder than the one before...

Then, she felt nothing, but heat.

When she woke, she found herself covered in ash and dust. The world around her smelled of scorched bones and death, but when tried to pull herself to her feet, she felt something sharp touching her naked shoulder.

It was a dragon. A black-winged creature with red eyes.

She found a second dragon, seated atop her other shoulder and another one nestled between her legs and suckling on her breast.

Just as she lifted her head she found Ser Jorah kneeling before her.

And then, for the first time in nearly a decade, the song of dragons filled the world with its sweetness.

…

"Will they be my only children?“ she asked the witch later after they had left her son’s pyre behind her. Her children lay nestled in her arms, warm and alive. "Why did my son not live?“

Miri eyed her with a mixture of pity and disgust.

"Even in Lhazar we know that your people had special blood,“ she explained. "Perhaps it was not wise for a dragon to breed with a horse.“

Dany tried her best to make sense of the godwife’s words. "Sadly, there are no other dragons left. There is my brother, but even my late mother said he was no true dragon."

"I cannot tell you more than that,“ Miri told her and left her to her thoughts. "And I must leave you on the morrow when we arrive at the ruins. I must return to my people.“

Dany lowered her head in understanding. "And I must find my own path.“

…

**Author's Note:**

> I read the books over the holidays because I forgot a lot about them or better said I read my favourite POVs. One is Daenerys and I have to say even after the third or is it forth read? I forgot...I still think her relationship with Drogo makes no fucking sense whatsoever. 
> 
> Call it Stockholm syndrome if you like, but I think it has more to do with the writer not knowing what he wanted to do with her. Did he want to portray them as a romance or as outright rape? Because I don't get it.
> 
> Why does Dany love him? Yes, I get he killed Viserys and gave her some self-worth, but then I always had the feeling that Dany had plenty of that even before she met Drogo. She was constantly being sarcastic about Viserys stupid plans and spoke out against him despite her fear.
> 
> Especially, if you compare her relationship with Drogo with Daario it makes no fucking sense. She seems to be attracted to his manliness, but at the same time, she is disgusted by Daario suggestions of butchery. She knows that her relationship with him is doomed in the long run.
> 
> So how could such a compassionate girl love a man who commands an army of rapists and murderers?
> 
> For me, George changes her character as he sees fit and contradicted himself with her several times.
> 
> I mean she conquers three cities with wit and then she suddenly doesn't even want to fight the slavers who are trying to destroy her work?
> 
> I don't really get Daenerys character or her arc at all in the books at times, which is more the writer's fault than the character.
> 
> Now, that said, I have not watched the show (Not really since season 2) and stopped completely at season 5, but I know the major plot points of the ending and I am baffled by them?
> 
> How can someone turn a rape-victim and a person who frees slaves into a madwoman?
> 
> Either this bullshit came from the writers or George has lost his mojo...Or maybe I was just ignorant all along to see his failures? 
> 
> Some of the stuff he wrote was in hindsight pretty problematic...
> 
> I still love his characters and I hold no grudge against him as a person, but this re-read prompted the idea of writing this one-shot, that might not be a one-shot forever. Who knows...
> 
> I know people are touchy about rape, but I think it is fine to write about it, as long as it is not framed as something good and that is certainly not the case here.
> 
> Maybe my writing also comes off as hateful towards the Dothraki, but then I openly admit, they are my least favourite part of the universe. They are all the same, have no culture and their whole arc is just terrible if you follow the show plot points...They basically just turn into a whole horde of barbarians who are hated by everyone?
> 
> Is that really the whole point of Dany uniting them? Like maybe have them change and become better people? Like give them a purpose besides rape or killing...
> 
> Apparently, I am wrong on this account.
> 
> As for Dany's different worldviews in this story: Rhaella lived until Dany was ten years old. She loved her and cared for her and instilled some self-worth into her. Rhaella is always portrayed as a victim, but the fact that she survived all this stuff makes me think she was a strong-willed person to even survive that...
> 
> I don't think I would have been that strong...
> 
> Not that anyone who is weak is lesser or anything. I just thought that she would have a huge influence on Dany if she lived, though I personally do not think that Viserys would have turned out alright.
> 
> Not due to his genetics, though. I never saw him as mad, but as a child that was groomed by an abuser to become another abuser.
> 
> Sadly, this stuff happens at times and the fact that he was a beggar didn't help...


End file.
